Charlotte allowed a little distance to open up between the two of them and the lady before she dared speak.
“Your Grace, you need to be more careful,” she whispered.
He stopped walking, so suddenly that she nearly fell over in surprise. He placed a hand over hers on his arm, steadying her. She looked up, startled at the softness in that touch.
For a man who spoke so gruffly, who did indeed have an imposing appearance, it was a gentle touch indeed.
“Careful?” he repeated her in surprise. “Am I missing something here, lass?” He glanced down at her leg. “Ye suddenly seem a little more stable on that foot of yers.”
“That is because there is a reason for it.” She tugged on his arm, urging him to walk again so they could keep up with the other lady. “If you had been seen alone in that lady’s company, cloaked in the shadows of the garden, do you not realize what scandal could have ensued?”
“What scandal? She asked for me company.”
“And that didn’t alarm you?”
He looked at her, arching a single eyebrow so strongly that she wasn’t sure whether to like what it did to his face, or to be annoyed by it. Was he so improper that he couldn’t form a sentence in reply?
That is rude.
“Very well, I shall explain it to you. In theton, a lady alone in a gentleman’s company, in a garden, at dusk, is only presumed to be doing one thing.”
“The fact ye are blushing already, lass, suggests that ye are embarrassed greatly by the thought of telling me what that thing is.” He chuckled in a low tone, and she jerked her head toward him once again.
“I surely do not have to spell it out!”
“As ye have just said, I am plainly ignorant of this matter, so why do ye nae tell me?”
“Oh, this is insufferable.” She stopped again at his side. How was it possible to become so irked with another person in the space of a few sentences. “I came to give you a warning, Your Grace. To assist you. That is all. You should be more careful of ladies like her. Though she may be wary of you, your title, fortune, and lands clearly enticed her.”
“Ah, I see.” He nodded and this time was the one to walk on with her, hurrying back to the house. “Ye mean to tell me that ye, a perfect stranger to me, would go to such lengths of feigning an injury to save me from an unwanted marriage? Ye daenae ken me from Adam.”
She frowned, taking a minute to understand his strong accent.
“Why risk being seen with me for my sake?”
“I am not afraid to be seen with you,” she answered swiftly. These words brought him to a sudden halt again. “Goodness, we are making slow progress,” she observed, startled when he smiled a little. It softened the strong features in his face. She almost liked that expression, were it not for the curious and infuriating way he was gazing at her.
“Everyone is afraid of me, lass,” he said simply. “Or have ye nae looked at me properly?”
She didn’t answer at first. Standing there beside him as dusk was growing darker, she understood the fear of him. He was so tall and broad-shouldered that he dominated her vision to the point that he blocked out the view of the moon above her.
“I have looked at you, and I am not afraid,” she assured him trying to cover up the fact that she was. He plainly didn’t believe her, his lip curling as she tried to lift her chin higher. “As for your canniness about thetonand their ways, however, I do question that. Now come, we must hurry.” She pulled him on again.
“Well, it seems ye have done me a kindness indeed. A kindness that you will no doubt demand is returned,” he declared with sudden animation, though there was a coolness to his tone.
“I ask nothing more in return – what the… what are you doing!?” she suddenly cried, for his arm had left her hand and he had swept that arm under her legs. The next thing she knew, she was being carried by him, like a child in his arms, toward the house.
She stiffened in his grasp, looking up at him through the shadows.
“Let me guess,” he whispered, raising his eyebrows sharply. “Is this scandalous too? To help a lass in need when she is injured?”
“Is that why you did this?” she asked, her hand trembling, though she tried to hide it.
He didn’t answer, merely smiled at her.
There was something assertive in his manner, so bold and icy that her stomach was writhing.
“No, as long as we are still around others.” She wished he would catch up with the other lady a little more, so it was plain they were still one group together. “I do not need to be carried.”
